On a recent trip our family visited a local marina and I spent the better part of an hour walking the docks, looking at the ships, dreaming of being on the water. There's something special about seeing boats moored.
When I was growing up my family always vacationed along the coast of North Carolina, particularly the area around Emerald Isle. We always ate fried flounder and hushpuppies from Frost and we always went to the docks in Morehead City at the end of the day and watched captains, their crews and their clients returning from a day on the water. For a young boy, already deeply infected with a lust for anything outdoors, the sights and smells on those docks was downright captivating. Grown men, scorched by the sun, whiskered, sweaty and either exuberant or dejected depending upon their success that day. And then there was their haul. Wahoo, tuna, snapper, trout, sharks, dolphin, grouper, spanish mackerel, sailfish, marlin, etc. were strewn across the pier. Huge, silvery-blue, beautiful giants stacked in rows waiting to be cleaned by the mate, razor-sharp fillet knives, sticky with blood, gleaming in the setting sun. Gulls crying, swooping lower and lower, jockeying for fish scraps. Onlookers oohing and aahing at this wonderful spectacle. Last but not least were the boats. Chrome and teak and fiberglass with all sorts of neat equipment like anchors and electronics and fishing gear. Things of art. It was almost too much for a boy to take in.
When we get back to the states Emerald Isle, Morehead City and Beaufort will be among of our first stops and you can rest assured we'll eat fried flounder and check out the docks at night. My kids are gonna love it!
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